Every summer of my childhood, my mom's family (grandma/grandpa, all 8 aunts/uncles and their kids) rented a beach house in Ventura, California. It's not an especially nice beach, it's never been an especially fancy house, but it was our beach town and I have many many memories from there. We've gone almost every summer of my life, except last summer and the summer of 2002 because we just couldn't go right after my grandma had died.

These summers were experiences, not all good (example, when my parents separated the morning we left for the beach and by the time we got home all my dad's stuff was moved out), but memorable nevertheless. In the 90's California went through a big draught and we were all about water conservation and therefore, the children had to take group showers. Outside. I'm actually not exaggerating. We had to shower with at least one other cousin/sibling of the same gender in the outdoor shower, which made for a myriad of prank opportunities.

One time in particular, my cousin and I had poured a bucket of ice into the shower where my sister/other cousin were showering, and in retaliation (this was not the first prank of the summer), my cousin, who was probably 12 at the time, came running out of the shower, buck naked, with the hose trying to soak us. But by the time she got out of the gate of the shower we were already inside and instead she absolutely drenched my grandmother who was sitting outside having a cigarette. The image of the soggy cigarette hanging from her mouth is one that will never ever leave my memory.

This summer is quite different. Much more low key, and kid friendly since my cousins, now age 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 are there. And for the record, after 2 1/2 days with them, my ovaries are on strike for the next roughly ten years. Instead of getting ice water or ice dumped on me during the shower, I got a 5 1/2 year old boy wandering in and staring at me. And then, as if that wasn't quite bad enough, he went into the living room where he declared that "Katie's boobies aren't as big as Mama's" and inquired whether mine would be as big as hers when I grew up. Because what I really needed was for this complex to get bigger.

There are many more stories from the beach to share, but those are for the next time I sit at my computer screen waiting for humor to strike me upside the head.

Until then...

1 comments:

MWAHAHAHAHA! Something new to add to the prayer list...for Katie's boobies to get bigger...MWAHAHAHA! What's really ironic is that getting pregnant with one of those little bundles of joy WOULD make Katie's boobies bigger...HAHAHA. Okay, just about enough of that. I say cats are easier, even with the resulting smaller boobs. :) :)

Aren't (most) childhood memories great? As you know very well from the massive number of times I write about it over on the flip side, I loved with summers with Grandma and all the extended families. I always felt safe and secure and loved with Grandma, and that never ever changed. I hope my grandkids love me even just a fraction of how much I love(d) her!

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About Me

I'm a 26 year old former teacher turned full time graduate student. I live in Southern California after a 3 year stint in New Orleans with my husband Slappy (formerly The Fiance) and our cats (yea, we're those people).
In February of 2006 I was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation, which is a fancy way of saying that my brain was too big for my skull (get it? overflowing brain). On November 27th, 2007 I had brain surgery which allows my brain to exist indefinitely in my spinal canal. 13 staples, one cow heart lining and a multitude of doctors and medications later, I'm living a much improved decompressed life.